› added 11 years ago

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TIL that human poop and farts get their foul smell from the chemical compounds Skatole and Indole (among others). At low concentrations, these compounds smell flowery, and are used in perfumes. USA and Israel have used Skatole in crowd control sprays—the stench does not wash off skin for 3 days.

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via reddit.com

OGj96 TIL Clint Eastwood attended Oakland Technical High School, where drama teachers encouraged him to be in school plays, but he wasn’t interested in acting. According to Eastwood, all he wanted was “fast cars and easy women.” He took several auto mechanic courses and fixed several cars.
4yQo TIL that MI5 once had a plan to use Gerbils to detect terrorists/spies at airports, as their sense of smell can acutely detect increased adrenalin in people. The project was scrapped when the Gerbils proved unable to tell the difference between terrorists and those afraid of flying.
JYla1 TIL about the Carthusian Martyrs. These men refused to accept Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church in England and were brutally killed because of it. The English authorities under Thomas Cromwell killed and harrassed the Carthusians until they were finally able to loot their monastery.
4RMJ TIL that a widow of a WWII veteran never learned the exact fate of her husband. After 68 years she found that he was not only buried in France. But that a town in France has been honoring him for the last 68 years.
W7wb4 TIL Tattoo’s were status symbols of wealth in Victorian Britain.